RHJ International Seeks To Raise Liquidity Level, Sell Assets -CEO
02 July 2009 - 2:04AM
Dow Jones News
Belgian investment company RHJ International SA (RHJI.BT) is
seeking to increase its cash level for future investments and sell
some assets, its chief executive said Wednesday, as speculation
about the company's renewed interest in General Motors Corp.'s (GM)
European unit Adam Opel GmbH grows.
The Brussels-based holding company is looking to "raise the
liquidity level so that at the end we would have significantly more
money than EUR200 million" for future investment, Chief Executive
Leonhard Fischer told a conference call.
However, analysts doubt RHJ International has enough money to
buy Opel.
Opel "is much too big," said KBC analyst Tom Simonts, pointing
out that RHJ has at most just over EUR300 million to invest, and
little assets to sell for good money. Their bid might be a move to
raise their profile in Germany, he said.
According to press reports, RHJ is still in the running to buy
Opel, after bidding for it earlier this year, should negotiations
with the preferred bidder, the Canadian auto supplier Magna
International Inc. (MGA), fail.
-By Alessandro Torello, Dow Jones Newswires; +32 2 741 14 88;
alessandro.torello@dowjones.com